1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fiber optics and, more particularly, to fiber optic probes.
2. Related Art
A conventional fiber optic bundle typically includes millions of individual fibers of glass which are manufactured by pouring pure raw glass having a high index of refraction into a tube having a cladding glass with a lower index of refraction. The glass and the tube are then precisely aligned and fused together to form a solid fiber glass bundle. Each fiber in the bundle receives and carries a small portion of an image by a well-known process of internally reflecting light rays emanating from the image. Through this process, high resolution images may be efficiently transferred from one surface to another.
Oftentimes, light received at one end of the fiber is transferred to the output end and projected onto a self scanned array, such as a charge coupled device ("CCD"), to convert the light level in a group of fibers of "pixels" to a corresponding electrical signal which can be digitized and reconstructed graphically as an intensified image on a computer screen.